You have a clear vision, know how to deliver results, and lead a team capable of achieving them. But do you really understand what makes team dynamics work? Do you give your employees sufficient freedom to develop their own contributions while crafting a shared purpose that unites them? In short, are you a leader who creates proximity?
Proximity isn’t about charisma or the ability to win people over. It’s about striking the right balance between individuality and belonging, which is particularly challenging in a workplace where cultural differences, physical distance, and new ways of working continually test our ability to connect.
To help you navigate this challenge, we’ve put together eight uncomfortable questions about how you lead, organize work, and engage with your team. Inspired by Proximity: How to balance belonging and difference in today’s workplace, the new book by our professor Sebastian Reiche, these questions invite you to rethink how you create an environment where people with very different talents can move in the same direction without sacrificing what makes them unique.
1. What really brings my team together when its members don’t share the same cultural reference points?
A shared culture isn’t the only way to foster belonging. A common purpose can connect people with very different identities and cultural backgrounds. Work with your team to define shared goals and organize your efforts around them. In individual development conversations, explore how each person’s cultural experiences have shaped their approach to work and their aspirations. This will help you connect individual growth with the broader mission without demanding conformity.
2. When a crisis hits the team, do I just put out fires, or do I use it to strengthen our rapport?
Crises are inevitable, but they can also provide an opportunity to reassess priorities, challenge established routines, and rebuild weakened relationships. Once the immediate pressures have subsided, acknowledge what you’ve been through together and make time to reconnect with those who may have become isolated. Encourage people to rethink their roles within the organization through cross-functional projects, temporary rotations, or new responsibilities that help them see how their work contributes to that of others.
3. Do I use my authority to have the final say, or to empower others?
Formal authority doesn’t always come with the expertise needed to make the best decisions. In fact, leaders who recognize their colleagues’ expertise and give them greater influence can strengthen their own credibility and improve performance. Identify areas where others have better judgment than you do, and let their recommendations shape decisions, even when they challenge your preferences. Work alongside them, involve them in significant responsibilities, and adapt your leadership style to the demands of each situation. Empowering others doesn’t mean giving up authority. It means learning to exercise it differently.
4. What am I doing to bring people closer together when they work apart?
Being digitally connected doesn’t necessarily mean working together effectively. Differences in language, location, and work practices can create invisible barriers and fragment a team. Identify where these divides are emerging and establish clear expectations around communication channels, availability, and shared procedures. Rotate meeting times so the inconvenience is shared across time zones, and encourage direct collaboration between functions or countries through working partnerships or small joint projects.
5. Am I trapping talent in roles that never change?
Imagine a band with dozens of musicians who take turns performing onstage. It exists: jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy has won five Grammy Awards—while rotating members, sometimes mid-tour. Why not bring that flexibility into your organization? Consider which projects could benefit from temporarily bringing in specialists from other departments or external collaborators. Encourage short-term rotations and give professionals opportunities to contribute to different initiatives, while keeping shared goals and individual responsibilities clear.
6. How many good decisions are lost waiting for my approval?
For people to take initiative, they need to know which decisions they own, what outcomes are expected, and how their performance will be evaluated. Set transparent goals, establish shared performance indicators, and put agile mechanisms in place to spot deviations. Make sure incentives reward accountability and collaboration rather than obedience. You build autonomy through rules that allow people to make decisions without asking permission at every turn.
7. Do I need to see my employees to trust that they’re working?
Office attendance should work like a dimmer switch, not an on-off button. Rather than imposing a fixed number of days in the office, turn up in-person time when it adds value: onboarding new colleagues, supporting learning, resolving conflicts, or tackling complex projects. Dial it down when focused work, autonomy, and work-life balance matter more. Evaluate outcomes, not hours spent in plain sight, and review whether your policies provide access to development opportunities without penalizing remote workers. Flexibility should help people work better while continuing to feel part of the organization.
8. How can I expect my employees to drive a transformation I designed without them?
You can’t achieve profound organizational change simply by announcing a new direction and expecting everyone to follow. Uncertainty, fear of losing relevance, and resistance to leaving familiar ways behind are all part of the process. Rather than dismissing these emotions, create spaces where people can express them and offer support to those who need it most. Establish integration teams representing different functions, involve key professionals in designing new ways of working, and set goals that rise above individual interests. Make early progress visible and celebrate collective achievements. The true measure of a successful transformation is not just reaching a new destination, but getting there without leaving people behind.
As Reiche reminds us, proximity isn’t about avoiding or overcoming differences, but about creating the conditions for those differences to generate collective learning, collaboration, and new ways of understanding one another. After these eight questions, one more remains: How well do you balance belonging and individuality without favoring one at the expense of the other? You can explore that question through this leadership self-assessment developed by Reiche based on his research.
